By Stine Jacobsen
COPENHAGEN, April 9 (Reuters) - Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen called on NATO allies to stand together to defend international law as he pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump's latest comments about the Arctic island.
Trump vented his frustration with NATO's unwillingness to get involved in the war on Iran that he launched with Israel, saying in a social media post that the military alliance was not around when needed and would not be there "if we need them again. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE".
Nielsen rejected the characterisation.
"We are not some piece of ice. We are a proud population of 57,000 people, working every single day as good global citizens in full respect for all our allies," he told Reuters.
Nielsen underlined the importance of maintaining the post-war geopolitical order, including the NATO defence alliance and globally respected international law.
"Those things are being challenged now, and I think all allies should stand together to try to maintain them. I hope that will happen," he said.
DIPLOMATIC TALKS CONTINUE BUT GREENLAND IS WARY OF US GOALS
NATO allies had already been scrambling earlier this year to find ways to keep the alliance together after Trump revived his push to seize Greenland from Denmark, a fellow NATO member.
The White House in January said Trump was weighing a use of military force in Greenland, leading Germany, France and other European nations to send small contingents of troops to the island in a message of solidarity and deterrence.
Trump later backed down after talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, stating that "the framework of a future deal" had been formed and moving the Greenland conflict to a diplomatic track. His latest social media post on the island followed a new meeting with Rutte on Wednesday.
Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. in late January launched diplomatic talks and Nielsen said they were still going on, with more meetings scheduled.
Trump and his backers have insisted the U.S. needs Greenland to fend off threats from Russia and China in the Arctic and that Denmark cannot ensure its security.
The United States already has a base on the island and the ability to expand its presence there under a 1951 treaty.
"It would be strange, when all parties want to discuss increased defence cooperation, not to factor in that agreement (from 1951)," Nielsen said, declining to go into further detail on what was being discussed in the negotiations.
Despite the talks, Nielsen made clear he did not believe Trump had abandoned his ambitions regarding the island: "I cannot see that his desire to either take over or control Greenland has been taken off the table," he said.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Louise Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Philippa Fletcher)
